A consortium to promote a comprehensive census and fair redistricting process in New York State.

Census and redistricting are the building blocks of our democracy. The shapes and sizes of legislative districts determine who is elected and who will decide our state’s most critical issues including where roads are built, how schools are funded, which bridges are repaired, and where medical facilities are placed.

In New York, the distribution of billions of dollars in federal funding for programs relies on data derived from the decennial census, yet the state faces unique challenges in conducting a fair and comprehensive census. In 2010, as many as 50,000 New York City residents went uncounted because they lived in homes that the Census Bureau erroneously deemed vacant; and ethnic and racial minority groups were undercounted at higher rates than other populations. Failure to properly prepare for the census not only affects the state’s standing in Congress, it determines how billions of federal dollars will be spent.

NY Counts is an innovative, cutting-edge voting rights and open government resource center designed to guide New Yorkers through the 2020 census and redistricting process. It is committed to the principal that nonpartisan and empirically based analysis must govern that process and will assist lawmakers in carrying out the constitutionally mandated census and redistricting.

Census and redistricting preparations are complicated and complex. Leaving such efforts to the last minute can have a profound effect on the interests of all New Yorkers.

 

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